Doing what we do we are constantly bombarded by negativity because of the mistakes, misguided and mistrusted people before us. People are constantly stuck in the past unwilling to move forward and it’s those people that continually look backwards that will never move forward with their lives. It’s these people that constantly drag up old stuff on the internet, old people’s experiences, and old ways things were done and like I said these people will just continue to be stuck in the past.
I really think people don’t fully understand what we do here in Alberta. I don’t mean to put anyone else down by any means but I think what we do in Alberta is quite different then what others have done in the past and what people even do today. You have to keep in mind that Amway Global and World Wide Group are neutral companies, it’s the PEOPLE that end up giving them a bad name. Yes there were a lot of douchebags in the past that ended up keeping people’s bonus’s and really doing bad things, but I can tell you that’s not the way Amway Global is these days or how World Wide Dreambuilders operate. We build business with trust, friendship, honesty but most of all integrity. We build business a bit slower then most of North America but it’s because we invest a lot of time into people to make sure there is a right fit and that they get all the information and are ready to accept the offer to go into business. That process could take 4-5 weeks depending on the person. So you cannot tell me we just “sign people up” because that’s a lie. We want high quality people who want more out of life then what the average is currently giving them. These are those 2%’ers I talk about. This is just part of how we build business here in Alberta.
You can read a ton of negative things on what we do, but I’ll tell you what, you’ll find negative stuff about just about anything. Mother Teresa, The Pope, Obama, Canadian Tire, Any Successful Company, etc… You’ll find negative for just about anything if your looking for it. Google is the bathroom wall of the world. If you look you’ll also find positive, which is one of the reasons why I decided to write this blog.
This blog is about my personal experiences with World Wide Dreambuilders and Amway Global, two companies that we choose to contract with. Amway Global doesn’t give us the training and mentorship at all, they give us a membership and say thanks, see ya later. World Wide Dreambuilders is a company we choose to use for training and mentorship through a business model. The key word is we choose to. Are we held at gun point and told to buy this tool or that tool or do this or do that? No. LOL. We are free people who choose to do what we think is best for our organization. We’ve seen the people before us, the people that directly coach and mentor us and what they’ve achieved. We’ve also see the kinds of marriages, the kinds of relationships and the kind of personal growth they’ve had and we choose to associate with that because WE LIKE WHAT WE SEE. I love treating my wife like she is a queen, I love serving my wife and reading a book that helps me understand her love language so that I can serve her better. Was our relationship bad before? No, it was/is a good relationship, however I don’t want average, I don’t want just good, I want GREAT, I want an amazing relationship and I see that with every person that is coaching and mentoring us in this business. This is just one prime example of what World Wide Dreambuilders has given us. I would be willing to pay a hell of a lot more for what we get out of this. An amazing marriage for one thing is priceless.
Trust me, there is negative everywhere in life, you will always be surounded by it and you need to make a choice of what you do to deal with it. I try to be a positive influence on the people who read this blog and the people I come in contact with. It’s something that I have to continually work at because I was one of those negative, skeptical, ignorant people out there that used to write bad things about companies and alike. I’ve since learnt that got me nowhere and I was never moving ahead. Now I can happily say I am moving forward in so many different ways that negativity just doesn’t phase me. Say what you will 
Thanks for the comments Bridgett. You are 100% correct. With that ill be closing the comments on this post. Great discussions but that’s enough for this post.
Shaun, this is a great post and actually a stimulating discussion. I agree that you don’t want to get sucked into a vortex of negativity but at the same time, constructive criticism should be viewed as a good thing. Afterall, you cannot live in a world where there are no germs or no stress of any kind.
Certianly you don’t want to get into “I know you are but what am I” kinds of debates, but I think Amthrax made some good points. Looking forward to your next article. Best of luck!
I’m not an internet critic Bridgett! I think the internet is fine & dandy!
I’m more of an Amway critic.
I agree that keeping track of your expenses is critical for your business at this point. I would also focus on the training Amway provides, as it appears that you aren’t aware of the opportunities Amway provides to educate yourself about the products.
Shaun,
It’s only hard not to engage if you think that you can have a rational and civil conversation with them. As someone who has “chatted” with them, going back to June 2007, it’s obvious that they are only looking to distract, divide, and devour. To them, this is all a game. Many haven’t been in the Amway Business. And if they have, it was many years ago, and for a very brief time. You have a few here whose personal experience is 12-15 years old, and less than a year’s worth of experience.
Why such hatred? I remember when I figured out how limited and old their experience was, and yet they were seemingly so passionate about it?
They want to give the illusion that the majority of people have a negative impression of Amway. And that is simply not true. I have many years in the Amway Business. And I know, first hand, that reality (offline) does not meet this fantasy land (online) they are trying to portray.
They want to bring down the IBO. Discourage them, distract them. I’ve seen them, like little Screwtape Letters characters sneakily enter onto blogs of new IBOs. First being friendly, complimentary, encouraging, and then increasingly showing their true colors.
There is hardly any new negative on the Internet about this business (and you have one person commenting here who creates blogs under different persona, in order to give the false impression that there are more people unhappy with the Amway Business than there is). And so their goal is to silence any positive voice regarding Amway on the Internet.
You are their new target.
As I’ve said, do not engage. You know you are right. You do not need to prove anything to them. They are schoolyard bullies. They fight. And they fight unfairly. This is YOUR schoolyard. You set the rules. And you owe them nothing. Keep your eyes looking forward and looking up, not looking to the left or to the right to those in the crowd, attempting to have you take your eyes off of the task at hand.
One way of avoiding negative is not engaging with Internet critics who despise Amway.
Bridgett, you are right. It’s something I have to continually try and work on. Its hard when your own experiences are totally the opposite of what the internet critics say.
First time poster on your blog, which I’ve been reading regularly. I do hope you and your wife succeed in your life’s goals, be it with Amway or through some other venture. That said, I do have a few questions:
1) Hypothetically speaking, if WWDB were to say, “We’re leaving Amway and joining Company X, and we want you to come with us!” would you do it? Are you allegiances with Amway, WWDB, or your family? From my experience, System organizations tend to minimize the parent company’s involvement (it’s just a supplier) or utility (we could leave them if we wanted to).
2) Do you have a backup plan in the event that Amway doesn’t work? I like that you’re learning more skills at your job. The skills that you learn in WWDB can also be applied to other business ventures as well. Keep this in mind if your Amway business does not develop as quickly or as profitably as you would like.
3) Are you keeping track of your income and expenses on a monthly basis Sounds silly, but it’s important to make sure that after a year or two, profits are outpacing your expenses. Calling the expenses “investment” is fine for awhile, but eventually you really need to demonstrate financial progress.
Best wishes with your business.
Thanks for the post Amthrax,
1. Honestly not sure, it would be something that we as a family would need to discuss if it ever came up. So sorry I cannot really answer that.
2. If for whatever reason Amway or WWDB didn’t work then yes we would apply the skills we’ve learnt here towards something else and would move forward with that. When the time comes for us to step away from our jos like we fully intend, it will be something that we will think about long and hard and weigh the pro’s and con’s and also look at a backout plan. Currently we are both employeed so I guess you can say we would just continue working the regular JOB.
3. We for sure keep track of our expenses. It was one of my biggest concerns when we started and I’ve continued to keep track of it.
Thanks for the best wishes.
I think there’s a lot of people who would be incredibly offended with your definition of a 2%’er.
If you like, I can explain why people may get offended at your (or is it your upline’s?) definition.
You are welcome to your own opinion. I don’t moderate the comments on here as long as things don’t get out of hand.
I did say it was a quick example and there are many other reasons that make up a 2%er. To be quite honest I’m not worried about offending people because after all this is my blog and my point of view. Nobody can please everyone and I’m not even going to try because that wouldn’t be me.
You are welcome to make a comment as to why YOU feel this might offend SOME people.
Lastly this was my description of what “I” think a 2%’er is and not entirely what my upline may or may not think. Do you think I’m not allowed to think for myself? Form my own opinions?
Thanks
Hi Shaun!
Good post. Can I ask what a 2% person is? I’ve seen you refer to that a couple of times but I’m not sure what it means.
Thanks Steve,
Yeah a 2%’er is someone that is looking for an opportunity, but it doesn’t end there. People who are 2%’ers are people that are willing to make changes to become successful. They don’t want to be average which 98% of the world is. They want more out of life then just working a typical 8-5 job and giving their second best to their significant other and family. They are people who want to impact others in a positive way, they are leaders yet can be coached and mentored. They have servant hearts and are not always thinking about themselves. That’s a quick example of what a 2%’er is.
Now do ALL 2%’ers fall into what we do? Absolutley not. Like I’ve said before what we do isn’t for everyone and I can respect that. There are other avenue’s to achieve success however we’ve chosen this one and it works for us.
I would hardly classify the way people feel about Amway in North America as “trivial”.
Amway has had to make significant adjustments because they were no longer able to suppress and outspend people in the court of law to keep a lid on the issues.
There is a darn good reason North American annual sales are no longer released, and I don’t think it’s for any of the reasons Amway gives. I could be wrong.
Obviously when you have a number of diamonds quitting or no longer active in the business and back working jobs, it doesn’t paint the picture Amway and it’s leaders would like you to see.
The reason Amway’s reputation is where it is in North America is PRECISELY because the bad experiences didn’t happen to the minority, it was the way the business was conducted!
Amway may very well be a wholesome and value driven endeavour across the ocean, it’s just not in North America.
I do wish you well Shaun. But negativity is simply a part of the Amway business, and likely will be for a loooong time.
Like I said in my post Amway is neutral, it’s the people that give it a bad name. These people that have lack of integrity, were dishonest and took advantage of people that were honestly looking for an opportunity.
I cannot comment on things in the past, I can only comment on the way things are now with how we are building it and we build with integrity and make sure people that we bring though the process are fully informed. That’s why the process can take 4-6 weeks. We don’t just RAM people through like so many have done previously.
If I take a step back and see where we are with the amount of work we’ve put in, I’m pleased. We have people on our team that really are amazing and worth the investment of time and effort to help them get to where we are.
It really is a seeing is believing and stay tuned to this blog for the months and years ahead.
Thanks for the best wishes.
What you have to realise is that what you read on the ‘net and how people *think* Amway people operates has NEVER been the way the majority of Amway people operate. While the “negative stories” are usually based in truth, from my research they’ve always reflected a minority. Part of the problem, as I outlined on my blog a couple of years ago, is that for many years Amway effectivelyt banned IBOs from saying positive things about Amway on the ‘net. People with positive experiences who left Amway (like Robert Pagliarni) usually have little motivation to be on the ‘net saying positive things about the company, but those who for whatever reason developed a “hatred” have had an outlet where they could rant as much as they liked, unopposed.
When you consider the tens of millions of people around the world who have tried Amway, the few hundred (if that) complaints on the ‘net and on a few TV shows are trivial. Unfortunately their influence on perceptions has not been.
It’s unfortunate the mishappenings or negative experiences of a small minority is what people like to grab onto and make it gospel. That’s just the way people are I guess.
Thanks for the comment